Engel 60 litre, 80 ltr waeco or 78 ARB

[Silvo]

hi there,

PLEASE NOTE.. I DON"T WANT ANY RESPONSES ABOUT WAECO IS BETTER OR ANY OF THAT CRAP..

i am purely after feedback on either the 60 litre Engel, or the 60 Litre Engel Fridge/Freezer model. More so the Fridge/Freezer model as i'm not certain how they would work. does anyone have either of these unit ans can comment on the effectiveness and power consumption please?

i'm really curious about the fridge/freezer option. i believe it pushes air from the freezer section over to the fridge part, but i'm not certain how that would really help to control the fridge section.

thanks
dan

[NewcastleKnight]

Hey Dan, don't know much about the freezer/fridge model however, I have a 60 Engle fridge.  Prior to get the Engle I had a 60 litre Waeco.

What I like about the Engle in comparison to the Waeco is that its wider and longer, so it takes up more room but because it is not as high and narrow as the Waeco I can find food in it easier and don't have to dig everthing out to get something out of the bottom.

[griz066]

We have a 60 lt combo mounted in the CT and it works great. Yes it does blow cold air from the freezer to the fridge. We set it on about -12* and this keeps the meat, bacon and icecream frozen and the beer and food cold. If you run short of beer whack some in the freezer for an hour then transfer to the fridge. We put a dozen cans in and replace drinks as you use them as the fridge is not huge but will hold enough food ie lettuce tomato ham cheese butter milk juice eggs etc and a dozen cans of beer/soft drink. I run it on 12v while we travel and then 240v if available or gene depending where we camp. It will run for 3 days on my 105ah battery (tested in shed with no other current draw). Hope this helps

[baldheadedgit]

Dan, drop in to Anaconda up the rd,, they have the primus fridges in there,, they look ok, from what i seen,, seperate freezer section, and ,dont qoute me, but i'm sure i seen a current draw of .85ah am hour,, so impressive
60lyr version..

Steve BHG

[achjimmy]

Dan when rays outdoor used to be on the other side of the complex in Penrith I played them of against BcF, tent city and anaconda and got the Engel 60 litre down to $1375 with a bag ( but they were only dealing on floor stock). I don't think the same team run it now they have moved next door to anaconda but it may be worth a try.

[BigJules]

I've got a combo 60L which works really well. I dint think it uses much more than my 40L.

I am selling my combo as we want more fridge space and will use the 40L as a freezer.

[GGV8Cruza]

I have the 60L fridge and have been more than happy with it, for a family of 4 it is heaps of room. We have a 140a/h battery to run it and I can usually get 2-3 days out of it, we normally go for a drive each day so it gets a quick charge to keep it going. When it is not in the Patrol it is in the store room on 240v for a drinks fridge

GG

[JCAT]

I have the 60 litre Engel Fridge and it is fantastic and we got 4 days out of our 2 x 100 A/H batteries at Port Macquarie over the summer, that included the lights and water pump.

Can't comment on the fridge/freezer but I went with the fridge because of the huge amount of room. It seems like you lose some of the room with the combo.

[camdyson]

Got the 60l Engel fridge. Didn't get the combo as wasted too much space IMO. Works well as fridge or freezer, and comes down to temp very quickly.

As an aside, I've started turning it down to about 2-3 deg before bed, switching it off, and on waking it's not been over 5 deg yet. Makes sleeping easier as fridge slides in under bed, and will come on/off during the night.

So far it's been a great unit.

Cheers,

Cam

[HEM19X]

HI,

Not trying to hijack the thread but what is the Fridge/freezer split for a 60L?

Guessing by the comments that you don't actually get the full 60L.

Hem

[morgue]

hi there,

PLEASE NOTE.. I DON"T WANT ANY RESPONSES ABOUT WAECO IS BETTER OR ANY OF THAT CRAP..

i am purely after feedback on either the 60 litre Engel, or the 60 Litre Engel Fridge/Freezer model. More so the Fridge/Freezer model as i'm not certain how they would work. does anyone have either of these unit ans can comment on the effectiveness and power consumption please?

i'm really curious about the fridge/freezer option. i believe it pushes air from the freezer section over to the fridge part, but i'm not certain how that would really help to control the fridge section.

thanks
dan

The 60ltr is a fridge that you can either have a s afreezer or a fridge...but not both, the 60ltr combo is a fridge compartment and a freezer compartment in the same box...as for the air being pushed from one side to the other...interesting, how it keep the fridge temp different to that of the freezer? anyway, had a mate with the Combo...sucked the juice compared to the 60ltr fridge, so he bought the 60ltr and ditched the combo.

[griz066]

HI,

Not trying to hijack the thread but what is the Fridge/freezer split for a 60L?

Guessing by the comments that you don't actually get the full 60L.

Hem

57 total Fridge 32 Freezer 25

[HEM19X]

Thanks Griz.

Hem

[Silvo]

thanks guys.. i think the 60 ltr regular - not combi would be the way to go..

I'm currently thinking about options between the 60 Engel, the 80 Waeco (can get one second hand) and the 78ltr ARB.

open to any feedback about the fridges from anyone who owns them.

I seem to be leaning towards the waeco, but the power consumption is a concern.. reported 2.9amps average/hour.

ARB is meant to be under 2, and i can't actually find the engel figure..

dan

[NewcastleKnight]

Probably comes back to economics in the end.  The Waeco is like the Engle in that it is wider rather then taller.  Not sure about the larger ARB.

[CRW]

Hi Dan

60 Litre Engel in the Complete Campsite and 40 Litre engel in the 200 Series, can freeze either as required or one for food and one for alcohol , both engels are fantastic, but will admit havent had any experience with any other brand

[gronk]

thanks guys.. i think the 60 ltr regular - not combi would be the way to go..

I'm currently thinking about options between the 60 Engel, the 80 Waeco (can get one second hand) and the 78ltr ARB.

open to any feedback about the fridges from anyone who owns them.

I seem to be leaning towards the waeco, but the power consumption is a concern.. reported 2.9amps average/hour.

ARB is meant to be under 2, and i can't actually find the engel figure..



dan

Dan, have a read of the fridge comparo in the latest 4WD Action ( no.163 )....it will give you all the figures etc you need......no manufacturers claims, just ordinary testing in real world conditions..

[domainmal]

Dan
I have a 60ltr and a 38ltr fridge/freezer. My mate has a 60ltr combi and a 40ltr fridge/freezer. I use the 60 as a fridge and the 38 as freezer. He uses the combi as the combi and the 40 as a fridge.
At the end of our last trip I had my 60 half full and bugger all in the 38.
My mate turned off his 40 and put everything in the combi.
His only complaint is getting the right setting so everything dosen't freeze or is not all frozen.
Hope that helps.
Mal

[gronk]

Slightly off topic, but why do you need a freezer

Ice blocks for the kids ??

Meat ??....cryovaccing lasts for 3 or 4 weeks !!

Ice for your scotch ??

[Silvo]

Ice for your scotch ??

now you're talking..

for me i think i've steered away from the combi model with the freezer..

i generally cryovac all my meat and then freeze them and put in the fridge frozen, so, really i only need a fridge. my hunt at the moment is a compromise between cost, size, and power draw.

i read that comparison in 4wd action, while good, it doesn't compare the larger fridges which i understand to draw more power - one of my concerns.

i now with my current waeco it draws less than 1Ah on average, moving to a bigger fridge that could draw up to 3Ah on average concerns me a little - as i mentioned, i just can't find any tests to show the average draw over a period of time.

dan

[gronk]

Not quoting any figures Dan, but on AVERAGE, you could expect some of the bigger fridges to use almost twice the power of the smaller ones, as most of them use a bigger motor..

I personally would be looking at the most space efficient 60 ltr that suits your needs..

I still think the Waeco 60 ltr suits me best as I can have a carton of beer in one section, enough cryovacced meat etc in another , then the milk, dairy marg etc in the dairy compartment..

The ARB one is the only other one that comes close to the same sort of organisation as it ( I will add this is for my situation, yours could be completely different )

[SteveandViv]

Slightly off topic, but why do you need a freezer

Ice blocks for the kids ??

Meat ??....cryovaccing lasts for 3 or 4 weeks !!

Ice for your scotch ??

So true Gronk. Decided to run the 50 as a Dual Zone this trip to Cape Leveque, thought the kids would like ice blocks. Well they had none s I had to eat them. So On day four the dividers came out and it became a fridge again..

[D4D]

I make a twin zone out of my Waeco 50 with coreflute. Place the cryovac frozen meat flat on the bottom with a piece of coreflute cut to size on top if it. As the fridge is coldest at the bottom it keeps the frozen stuff frozen heaps longer. The challenge is you do have to drag the fridge contents out to get to the frozen stuff.

[making tracks]

No fridge owner as yet but i see the ARB does not really get a mention. Primas either,im after a 60L soon and would like all details.

[gibbo301]

No fridge owner as yet but i see the ARB does not really get a mention. Primas either,im after a 60L soon and would like all details.

Making tracks just type fridge in the search  should be every thing you want to know in there